Method of producing pictures by discharge



Aug, 20, 191%. F. G. YANES fi s METHOD OF PRODUCING PICTURES BY DISCHARGE Filed July 15, 1937 INVENTOR.

Patented Aug. 20, 1940 UNITED STATES METHOD OF. PRODUCING PICTURES Bf DISCHARGE Francisco G. Yanel, New York, N. Y., assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of thirty per cent to Tomas Pacanins, New York, N. Y., and fifteen per cent to Florencio Gomez,

Trujillo City, Dominican Republic Application July 15. 1937, Serial No. 153,696

7' Claims.

. l matic effects. Such pad may be used as a dyeing element or as a color picture foundation. It is as a picture foundation that the pad will be here considered.

In the drawing:

20 Fig. 1 illustrates a bi-colorpad.

Fig. 2 is the four color tonochromatic form of the pad.

Fig. 3 shows a three color type.

Fig.4 presents the pad as a potential dyeing 25 element.

It is well known thatin processes of the imbibltion group it is necessary to prepare andkeep in i working condition dye solutions for impregnating.

the matrices, and also that for color work those 80. solutions must be exactly mixed and preservedin order to maintain their relative degree of-con-.

centration, complementary quality and other characteristics. every color needs an individual outfit for using, as washing andstoraging which, even for the small shop, is .sumbersome. To overcome these diflicultiesIconceived as an article of manufacture a dyeing element carrying selected and proportionate color-providing matter and which could,

40 be produced in standardized'type and storaged in dry condition until the moment 01 using it; in

other words, a material which, after wetted...

would provide a sort of a pad in which to "inkf' the rubber stamp, as the matrix was called in 45 early descriptions of the inhibition processes.

Although the opportunity of finding a manner for choosing, proportioning and maintaining the standard of the. coloring together with the simpliiication oi dyeing outfltwas enough to justify 50 the" chromaticpad, that idea was only the, point of-departure fordevelopi iny invention into a dyeing element susceptible oflsu'pplyingmore than one color under controllable conditions." I

to found that migrating colors held in superposed u layers, provided there were not agreat diil'erence To this it' may be added that in their respective rate of penetration, behave as a single color and transferred in order, to the point of making feasible to give a different coloring to the light and heavy tones of an absorbent image respectively. This new achievement 5 oti'ered a method of double-coloring of the images for the synthesis in two element processes when the negatives of the separation respectively record a group of complemental colors.

Yet, while investigating the possibility of introducing an element of certainty in the application of double-coloring to photographic images, I still developed my invention to a point that the chromatic distribution was more precise and the general quality of the color images improved upon the lack of definition usually shown by multicolor dye-prints. I found that a potential polychromatic arrangement was dischargeable by negative absorbent. images, and that the remaining colors formed a clean and sharp positive chromotyp It is a known fact that the imbibition and like processes have been the subject of innumerable improvements regarding the lack of sharpness and registration of the images. On one side retarders, accelerators, cleaners, and other assistants have been proposed to'be added to the dye baths, in such a matter of fact manner that a patent was granted for not making use of any. On the other hand, the support or blank where so the dye image is transferred has also become a subject of attention, and hardeners, mordants, reagents, toppers and other fixers have been re'commended. But the'situation has necessarily remained in a sort of compromise because the very diflusion of the dyes and the expansion of thesupport which are intended to be reduced are the cause of the migration and suction utilized in those processes. A sort of drawback inherent to the method of working which, in color photcg- 4o .raphy, is multiplied on, acount of the number of" images which must be combined.

. U However, when} use the pad of my invention as a foundation to obtain pictures by'discharge and sandwich the wet material between two photographic negative reliefs of geiatine in register, the migration; of the dye is limited in space because. the discharging element is formed by ab i sorbent sectionsof definite volume. contrary to v the case of a blank oil'ering the colors both the 5o whole surface and depth of a gelatine layer. Under the new technique whichse'ems to batheproperj'one,the only possible diflusion would be sid ways from the colors-remaining inthe' film But as long as the suction takes place along a line perpendicular to the film and not only two but three and even four colors may be simultaneously discharged, the limitation of time also contrib utes to minimize any possible lack of sharpness. Four colors carried away in the time necessary for discharging one and a quick drying of the film present a great improvement over the regular imbibition work. Another point is that the film can be made practically diffusion-proof by coating the support with a substratum carrying a colorless migrating substance which as the transferring goes on fills the sections left by the colors in the deepest layers. The tonochromatic pad illustrated in Fig. 2 is an example which satisfies both the chromatic and the photographic quality of the reproduction.

A very simple form of a bi-color pad is illustrated in Fig. 1. It comprises a support S carrying two coatings of a medium in which two migrating color-causing substances are incorporated. I may produce this dyeing element in a support of Celluloid and use as a medium gelatine which is previously dyed to the desired shade and applied at ordinary emulsion coating temperature of 33 to 35 centigrade. For purposes later described hard gelatine is preferable and should the saturation of the color be too great it may be cut by adding more gelatine. The temperature should never be raised further than necessary for mixing or coating as it may affect some dyes. I usually add small amounts of glycerine to prevent the brittleness of the coating. Instead of Celluloid the support may be made of collodion, and many other suitable materials including a self supporting medium; and regarding the medium other colloids or matter fulfilling the purpose may be used. The colorcausing substances are also many and may be incorporated inthe medium in different manners. However, I prefer the described example, as liable to permit a controlled and standardized production in a commercial scale.

The practical advantage of the "inking pad presented in Fig. 1, may be fully realized by considering that it is not a mere color dispenser, for complementary colors of the required shade may be chosen, proportioned and prearranged to permit the correct and simultaneous dyeing of two matrices. I do that by sandwiching between them, at moderate pressure, the color-supplying element previously soaked in water in the presence of an assistant which prevents the bleeding of the colors, as for instance, a slight amount of a weak acid for certain groups of dyestuffs. The wetting of the pad may obviously be performed by any suitable means preventing the bleeding of the colors, as by a sprayer or even by the image to be colored itself in certain processes. I have even found that when the amount of glycerine that I usually add to the pad to prevent brittleness is excessive, the damp condition caused by the atmosphere is sufilcient to produce a transferring from a practically dry pay especially towards mordanted images. A further advantageof the dyeingelement is that the colors can be proportionate for the heavy tones, and once the equilibrium of imbibition is realized for the lighter tones, the heavy ones cannot take more color thanisipresent in the section they contact, so it is possible to "controLthe contrast.

0! course the proportionate color causiiig4natter in the double element in Fig. 1 can be produced in two separate supports which'for merfdyeing purposes need not be madeof a transparentlsubstance and in such form they also may be used for final coloring of a transparency whose complemental values are produced on opposite sides of a double coated film carrying two absorbent images. A separate, one-image-dyeing-element, is illustrated in Fig. 4 for double-coloring.

The simultaneous "inking" of the two matrices by means of the element shown in Fig. 1, leaves this, after used, without any further application. However, this waste is avoided when the material is used as a foundation for the picture. I may produce through the photographic process instead of positive reliefs reversed or negative absorbent images which when dyed by the element v will leave in this the positive color picture. And

as long as said negative matrices can be washed and used again many copies can be reproduced. so the dyeing element has both the advantages of a controllable dyeing device and a sort of chromatic foundation for the production of a picture. This color foundation, as explained, is susceptible of being manufactured to fit negatives of different contrast.

When the element illustrated in Fig. 1, is used as a foundation where colored pictures are produced by discharge, I may add a feature shown in Y which separates the support from the orange layer 2 and the blue-green layer 3. The same feature is shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. That. sort of substratum which is not indispensable when the layers are thin and hardened, is a precaution to prevent any side invasion of coloring matter and preserves the sharpness of the picture. It merely consists of a hardened colorless substratum carrying a dye repellent colorless salt which as the migration takes place seems to move in the line of absorption. Although the function of this substratum is rather physical, many dyeing assistants well known in the industry can be used in a small proportion according to the class of dyestufi. Another precaution when using the element as picture foundation is to add to the soaking solution a hardening substance as 1 to 2% of formaldehyde for instance. After the discharge takes place the film must be quickly dried. Asit is, the material in Fig. 1 might be used in cinematography for two-color pictures and even the amateur will be oilered the easiest and most economic way of producing a color photograph. A thin sheet of the double coated material formed on a thin and fiexible support may be soaked and sandwiched between the two negatives in register of a bi-pack transformed in absorbent dyedischarging images.

I shall here summarize the main points of the potential polychromatic prearrangement duplicated in Fig. 2. One side of the transparent support 8 carries a thin yellow coating 1 and a magenta thicker layer 5; this pairtransmit a strong red, but if color is discharged in depth lighter reds, oranges and yellows may be produced showing a pigmentary imitation of one end of the spectrum. The .pair blue-violet 6 and green 8 on the other side if subjected to similar discharges will reproduce another complemental section of the spectrum. It can be easily understood that a negative photographic relief of gelatine, having a varied absorbing capacity according to the tones, will make proportional discharges on each side. And as the two-element analysis according to the tonochromatic system have been arranged to separate the two scales of colors and adjusted to record them in the same spectral order adopted fiuthe material, a full color picture will be ob- Instead of having four strata, the pad may be built as in Fig. 3, where a single blue' green stratum H is opposite to the pair magenta-yellow lll-l2. Or as in Fig. 1, where both pairs are represented by intermediate colors as the red-orange 2 and blue-green 3.

The method of producing a picture by discharging colors from a polychromatic pad is not a mere reversed imbibition. The results obtained are new. In the first place the colors can be arranged in their proper position and given the exact saturation and quality, something hardly possible by letting them freely migrate; and the better result is secured precisely because the picture is not formed by the -migrating colors but by the ones remaining in the film, and these have been selected, proportioned and prearranged. In the second place the migration is limited by the discharging element which, in combination with the factor time in the simultaneous discharge, and other precautions, assures a superior sharpness. On the other hand, the simultaneous migration of two colors unmixed and in order is not a step in the old process where the application of double-coloring usually comes after many complications of uncertain results. The method of polychromatlc discharge of my invention which by no means is limited to migrating dyes and absorbent images, is to imbibition what bleaching is to coloring, an entirely different process.

The methodof polychromatic discharge accessory to the polychromatic pad may be performed in different manners althoughin the same sub stantial way. The color-migration has been adopted as example because it permitsjan easier v demonstration; the thickness of the layers, for

instance, is a materializationto show proportion, but that proportion could be realized in other ways. ,Then the discharge does not necessarily v needf-to be "produced by absorbent images, for.

otherreactions of' chemical" nature may produce the same result. Or both the physical andchemical phenomena may be combined. .-For instance using a mordanted image or a combined relief and mordanted discharging image. Another point is that the migration is not an exclusive property of certain dyestuffs, for" many substances susceptible of color reaction may be subjected to discharge fora later chromatic development, as for instance, metallic salts, which J can be transformed into color precipitates with different reagents. The only question is that in "the discharging processor my invention, those color-providing substanceawhether actual or potential, are not ofiered a surface and a depth where to freely diifuse; they find a limited field; and regarding the material where they remain they are where they belong. V

I wish to be understood that although som parts of my invention may be practiced in many forms and by using many substances and reagents, it will be within its scope a system which would combinev achromatic prearrangement in a material non-sensitive to light and a method of polychromatic discharge, whether said prearrangement is produced or prepared by actual dyestufis or substances giving color reactions and whether said discharge is caused physically or chemically in, combination with a photographic image. v

I also wish to be understood that the potential tonochromatic prearrangement shown in Fig. 2 as a non-sensitive type of the tonochromatic film fully described in the already mentioned map.-

a substantially neutral color, said pigments so chosen that by not having much afllnityfor said medium are easily discharged when said medium is contacted in suitable conditions by a medium possessing a stronger afilnity for said pigments; second, producing a photographic color separation in two images of negative character on two separate films, said images in reversed position in regard to each other so as to come into register when the emulsion side 01' both films are in contact, the color values of said images respectively corresponding to the colors transmitted by each side of the material described in the first step; third, processing said images of negative character by well known means as to create in said images a strong affinity for the pigments present in the material of the first step; fourth, softening the material of the first step in a. suitable manner preventing the bleeding of the pigments; fifth, sandwiching the softened material between theprocessed negatives of the second and third steps, after bringing them in register, so that the greater affinity of the images for the pigments will discharge the negative complementary values from the film, said discharge being assisted by a suitable pressixth, allowing the necessary time to obtain said discharge; and seventh, extracting the final picture from the sandwich and drying it rapidly.

2.Amethod of color photographywhich consists in procuring a material having a transtive to light, forming a plurality of strata dissaid strata carrying a different pigment, one of the sides of the support at least having two' strata, these two strata so arranged in relative "thickness, and their corresponding pigments so selected in regard to 'hue and saturation, that said two strata will transmit in combination bysuccessive discharges in depth of color matter a succession of colors corresponding to one end, of the spectrum; the pigments inv the opposite sides of the film so balancedthat one side will transmit a color preferably complementary to the color transmitted by the other side; said pigments sochosen-that by having little afjflnity for the medium forming-the difierent strata will be easily discharged when said medium is contacted in suitable conditions by a medium possessing a stronger. amnityfor said. Pi ments; producing two elements bearing complementai negative imagesin reversed position, one 01 said image's at least representing a scale of colors correspondingto one end of the spectrum, said images so =processed as to cause by contact with the maparent support, a permeable medium 'non-sensl-x terial of the first step the discharge of said pigments; 'sandwiching said material in wet condition between the two negative discharging images in register; allowing time for such discharge with charges in depth of color causing matter a scale of colors respectively corresponding to a different end of the spectrum; wetting said material in such a manner as to prevent the bleeding of said color-providing substances; and sandwiching said material between two negative elements in register, said elements bearing images so processed as to discharge by contact the coloring matter, said negative images substantially representing complemental values obtained by a meth- 0d of analysis in which the colors represented by each element rank in the same spectral order than the color scales potentially prearranged on each side of the material.

4. A method of color photography which consists in procuring a material including a transparent support coated on both sides with a sub- 1 stantially plain colloid, said colloid carrying in a dry state a plurality of migrating dyestufls; soaking said material in a water solution containing an assistant to prevent the bleeding of the colors; and sandwiching the wet material between two absorbent negative reliefs of gelatine in register until the discharge of the negative values is produced, the color values of said absorbent negative reliefs respectively corresponding to colors complementary to the pigments present on each side of the material.

5. In a process of the character described the step of producing a part image showing a graded scale of colors which consists in procuring a material including a support and two superposed coatings of a medium on said support, one of said coatings carrying a migrating pigment representing a pure spectral color and the other coating carrying a second migrating pigment which when mixed with the first pigment in diflerent proportions will produce the other colors belonging to one end of the spectrum; and then contacting in suitable conditions said material with a photographic part record in which an ailinity for said pigments has been created by well known means.

6. In a process of the character described the step 01 simultaneously producing two part images in register representing diflerent color values and showing diiterent coloring, which consists in procuring a material having on opposite sides of a support a. pair of superposed coatings of a medium, each of said four coatings carrying a different color providing substance, so that each side provides two colors, and then sandwiching said material between two registered photographic records in which an afiinity for said pigments has been created by known treatments.

7. The method of producing a picture which consists in first procuring an element including a 7 support carrying permeable matter insensitive to light, said permeable matter holding at least a pigment so chosen that by not having much atfinity for said matter can be easily discharged when said matter is contacted in suitable conditions by a second matter having a greater afilnity for the pigment; second, producing a photographic record ol the subject to be reproduced, the image in said record of negative character when producing a positive picture; third, processing by well known means said photographic record so that the image in said record will cause by contact with the element of the first step the discharge of the pigment from said element; fourth, producing that contact under suitable conditions of dampness and pressure; fifth, allowing time for the discharge; sixth, separating the element of the first step where the picture will appear reproduced; and seventh, preventing the diflusion of the pigment remaining in said element by known means.

F. G. YANES. 

